by books & films
A delicious benefit of the hot lazy days of summer is that I indulge in much more reading than I have time for in other times of the year. I like having longer periods of uninterrupted time so that I don’t forget storylines and long lists of characters. Below is a list of the books I enjoyed the most, some readings going back to spring. Except for the last one, all were borrowed from our local library as I rarely purchase fiction.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Chosen thanks to this review.
Canada by Richard Ford. Much intrigued by the title when mentioned by Joe Hyam.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Recommended by Susan.
A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. I hope the next book in her trilogy comes out soon!
Picture Maker by Penina Keen Spinka. I wish my library had the sequels!
Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo, a translation from the Finnish language. A review.
The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon (she lives near Vancouver). I am looking forward to the sequel, The Sweet Girl, see Lyon’s blog.
Val/Orson by Marly Youmans. The only book on this list that I have purchased.
And here are a couple of films on DVD that we have recently enjoyed very much:
Life of Pi based on an award winning novel by Canadian Yann Martel.
The Big Fish, a revisit.
Also, the Canadian Murdoch Mysteries TV series has become an addiction for me while I am on my exercise bike. Some reruns from TV, DVDs from library, and now the past season online. Will watch for season 7 starting soon!
And what have you been reading and watching this summer?
August 20, 2013 in Books, Films by Marja-Leena
My youngest daughter and I just finished watching the first two seasons of Downton Abbey. She is well and truly hooked now. I just purchased season 3 so that she can be all caught up for season 4. I’ve seen them but it was nice to revisit. Reading has been a bust. I am not keen on what the book club selected for this summer’s reading but I can highly recommend two books. Honolulu by Alan Brennert and a Canadian book Factory Voice by Jeanette Lynes. The latter has a character whose mother is known as a Red Finn. Both books are about women and were enjoyed by everyone I know who has read them.
Dolores, I’m hooked on Downton Abbey too. We don’t have cable TV anymore, just a simple antenna which gives us only a few channels, not ones that carried DA. Son-in-law lent us his Apple TV on which he had the first season or two. After that I borrowed the DVDs from the library so I’m caught up. Can’t wait for Season 4, though it may be a while before the library will have the DVD, plus there’s always a long waiting list.
Thanks for the book reommendations – will check them out, especially that second one. Oddly enough there is an evil character in one of the Harkness books who is a Finnish woman!
I’m delighted to learn you got to read the exquisitely written ‘Little Prince’. Would you agree that even though it’s a book beloved by many children, that it wasn’t written for them in particular?
I’ve read a number of books from our collection this summer including several quite old ones. Among my favourites were:
The Jungle Books (I & II) by Rudyard Kipling and Kim, by the same author.
A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes.
Reality by Peter Kingsley is an ongoing and fascinating reading experience.
Magic and Mystery in Tibet by Alexandra David-Neel. In 1914, already in her 50s, the author travelled across China and entered Tibet disguised as a monk.
I’ve just begun reading the complete collection of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and have almost finished The Holotropic Mind by Stanislav Grof, MD
As for movies, three come to mind right away:
Dean Spanley
Departures
Red Cliff (the long version).
Thanks for this idea Marja-Leena. I may just do a version of my own.
Susan, I agree that the ‘Little Prince’ seems like it’s for adults. I will make a note of your book list – other than the Kiplings read long ago, I’ve not read the others. The movies are also unknown to me! Thanks for sharing.
Last year I too read old books from my library including some Finnish ones, and I really must read more of them.
And yes, please do a post on your readings and films!
I read Canada. Wasn’t that something! My reading is all over the place these days.
Hattie, Canada is indeed an unusual story, told in a rather strange way. I wasn’t sure if I liked the voice but still there was something compelling there! Looking at this list, I can see I’ve been attracted to historical, speculative and fantasy fiction a lot this summer.
Oh, I’ve also been reading more speculative fiction this summer. Sinisalo’s Troll is fantastic! I read it several years ago at the behest of a friend, and I then spent an insane amount of money to purchase Glasauge [Glasseye], available in German translation, but unfortunately not in English yet. It’s my favourite Sinisalo book yet.
Two others I’ve read and have high praises for are Ekaterina Sedia’s The Secret History of Moscow and Dara Horn’s The World to Come.
At the moment, I’m discovering the delightful Wind in the Willows for the first time!
Rouchswalwe, Troll is brilliant! I wish I could get books in Finnish but a past experience buying online directly from Finland cost me more than the books themselves in duties! So, I look for translations closer to home and preferably from the library, where I should put in a request for Sinisalo’s other books, as well as some of the sequels I mentioned in the post.
It’s been a while since I read The Wind in the Willows to our children and grandchildren! The two books you mentioned have been added to my wish list, thank you!
I think many Canadians read that Ford novel, Canada, because of the title. But wasn’t it strange?
I will look through your reading list, which seems very good.
Hi Marjaleena,
Just finished Alif the Unseen, by G. Willow Wilson, yet again (5th time), and Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni. My wife Joyce and I watched the UK mini-series Broadchurch. An amazing series, with brilliant acting, writing, directing, eveything!
Hi Peter! Those books have intriguing titles and I will check them out, as well as the mini-series. Thanks for sharing.
I remember what I was going to tell you about here: The Secret Life of Objects, by Dawn Raffel. It’s a very short read, and the Kindle price was much less than the print one, which I appreciate. I think you might like it, as someone who understands the importance, meaning and history of apparently small and unremarkable objects.
I just listened to an audio-book of Silas Marner, I read it years ago but had forgotten much of it, and how lovely it is.
I really enjoyed The Night Circus a year or two ago too!
Lucy, Raffel’s book sounds most interesting and I shall look for it in the library, thanks… and I may check the Silas Marner too! Don’t you feel sometimes that there are too many books to read in one’s lifetime?
I’m between library books at the moment, waiting for one on hold (being held a long time by another reader) so I found and started a Finnish one of my father’s that I had not read. We’ll see how that one is…
(P.S. Sorry you have had trouble commenting. I don’t know why and you aren’t the only one.)